Starting mechanism for automobiles



0. S. SCHAIRER STARTING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMOBILES. APPLICATION HLEDAUG-22 1913- RENEWED IULY 1920. Patented Mar. 1,1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I 0. S. SCHMRER.

STARTING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMOBILES. APPLICATION mm AUG-22.19M- RENEWEDnun 2. I920.

1,370,05 1 Patented Mar. 1,1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Y WITNESSES: l VENTQR J d I BY vented UNITED STATESPATENT orri cs."

OTTO 8. SUHAIREB, 0F OAJIMON'I, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 WESTINGHOUSEELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENN- mvamn.

STARTING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Application filed August 22, 1918, Serial No. 786,071.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, O'rro S. Sonnmnn, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Edgewood Park, in the county of Allegheny and State anew and useful Improvement in Startin Mechanism for Automobiles, ofwhich t e following is a specification.

My invention relates to electrical starting and generating apparatusfor. automobiles that are driven by internal combustion engines, and ithas particular reference to systems in which a dynamo-electric machinemay be employed as a motor to start the engine or as a generator drivenb the engine when the latter operates un or its own power. V

My invention has for its object to provide means for connectin adynamo-electric machine to an engine s aft, whereby different relativespeeds are obtained when operating res ectively as a motor and as agenerator.

n the use of dynamo-electric machines in which a starting motor and agenerator are combined in a single unit, it is essential that a smallmachine be employed in order to avoid excessive weight. A small nnichinerequires the employment of reduction gearing in order that a high speedmay be used to develop the torque necessary to turn the engine shaft instarting. If the same speed ratio were employed after the engine startsunder its own power, the machine would be operated as a generator at anexcessive speed. It is necessar therefore, to employ a lower speed ratioor operation as a gen erator, and it is highly desirable to effect thechange from one system of gearing to the other in a single 0 oration.

I have provided an arrangement which embodies two sets of gearmechanisms between the dynamoelectric machine and the engine shaft, onefor starting and the other for generation of current for lighting,ignition and charging. A lever, which is under control of the operator,breaks the connection of the dynamo-electric machine to the engine shaftthrou h one set of gearing and, at the same time,e ects a. connectionthrough the other set of gear mechanism. Ignition mechanism, which iscombined with the generator structure, is o erated 1n synchronism withthe engine she t at all times through one set of gear connections.

In t e accompanying drawings, Figure 1 Specification of Letters Patentof Pennsylvania, have inmcsh with the pinion 10.

Patented Mar. 1, 1921. Renewed July 2, 1920. Serial No. 393,561.

is a side view, artially in elevation and partially in section, of adynamo-electric machine arranged in accordanc'e with my nvention. Fig. 2is a, top view,- partially in plan and partially-in section. of a gasengine and related mechanism with my invention applied thereto. Fig. 3is a detail view of a clutch.

Referrin particularly to Fig. 2 an internal com ustion enginel isprovided with a supporting structure comprising arms 2 that are adaptedto be attached to the chassis of an automobile in any well known manner.The engine comprises a shaft 3 and a lly wheel 4 having gear teeth 5upon its periphery. The usual transmission shaft is indicated at 6 andthe gear case into which it extends is indicated at 7. A dynamo-electricmachine 8, which may be operated either as a motor or as a generator, isattached to the engine structure in any suitable numner, andis-operativcly connected to the engine shaft by mechanisms to bedescribed.

Referring now to Fig. l. the generator armature shaft 9 is provided, atits front end, with a fixed pinion 10 which coacts with a gear wheel ll.The gear wheel 11 is connected, by means of a one-way clutch 12 of theroller type, to a slidable shaft 13that has a bearing in a housing 14and a bracket 15. abhshaft 13 at its front end, and is adapted to bcshifted by it into and out of mesh with the fly wheel gear teeth 5,siibstnntially simultaneously with the correspomling move ment of thegear "wheel 11 into'and out of provided with a grooved collar member 17to be engaged by the bifurcated end of a yoke member 18 having a pivotalsupport indicated at 19. The yoke member 18 is con; to a suitable nectedby means of a lever 20 pedal or lever (not shown) located withinconvenient reach of the operator.

The clutch 12, which is shown in'detail in Fig. 3, comprises rollers 21that are mounted in inclined grooves 22 in a collar 23 fixed to theshaft 13. The clutch is arranged to allow the shaft 13 to overrun thegear wheel 11 when the engine starts under its own power.

The shaft 13 is I A gear wheel 24, which is rotatably mounted upon therear end of the armature shaft 9 is provided upon its inner face with aclutch member comprising teeth 25 which coact with the correspondingteeth 26 of a clutch member 27. The clutch member 27 is splined u on thearmature shaft 9 and is provided wlth a groove 28 to be engaged y a yokemember 29. A lever 30 and a link 31 connect the yoke member 29 to thethe clutch 12 allowing the shaft to overrun yoke member 18 So that amovement of the lever 20 produces a simultaneous movement of the clutchmember 27-and the slidable shaft 13 and, with it, the gear wheel 11 andthe pinion 16.

The gear wheel 24 is providedwith a projecting flange 32 having notches33 that are adapted to be engaged by corresponding projections (notshown) on a shaft 34 for endwise connection with the same. Asillustrated in Fig. 2, the shaft 34. is connected to the engine shaft 3by means of gear wheels 35, 36 and 37. The gear wheel 36 operates thecam shaft 38 of the engine at 0ne-half the speed of the engine shaft.

The generator 8 has combined with it ignition mechanism, indicatedbroadly at 39, which comprises a distributer disk 40 and a gear wheel'41 which is connected to the disk for rotating the 'same. The gearwheel 41 meshes with the gear wheel 24 which has a fixed speedratio withthe engine shaft and thus insures that the ignition mechanism will beoperated in synchronisin with the engine shaft regardless of the speedof the armature 9.

Normally, theslidable shaft 13 is in its left hand position with thegear wheel 11 in its disengaged position indicated by dotted lines (Fig,16 out of mesh with the fly wheel gear teeth 5. \Vhen the shaftl3oecupies this position, the clutch teeth 25 and 26 are in engagementto connect the ari'natm-e shaft 9 to the gear wheel 24. To start theengine, the operator actuates the lever 20 through any suitablemechanism to shift the rod 31 forwardly and thereby effect thesubstantially simultaneous ineshin of the gear wheel 11 with the pinionl0 and the pinion 16 with the gear teeth 5, respectively. and also thedisengagement of the iilnteh teeth 25 grid 26. The generator is th 1operated as a motor through any suitable electrical connections .(notshown to rotate the engine shaft through the pinion 10, gezuwheel 11,clutch 12, shaft 13, pinion 16, and fly wheel 4.

While the speed ratio between the generator and the engineshaft throughthe connecting means just described may he (lapted to various sizes ofgenerators and engines, it may be, for example approximately 18 to 1, inorder to allow the generator to operate as a motor at a high speed. The

ear wheel 24 is rotated through the gear wheels 37, 36 and 35 and theshaft 34 at approximately the same speed as the engme shaft but muchslower than the arma- -into its left hand 1) and withthe pinionslidablcshaft and s ture'shaft 9, the disengagement of the clutch teeth 25 and26 permitting. relative movement of these parts.

V When the engine starts under its own power, it will drive the shaft 13at a speed which exceeds that of the gear wheel 11,

the gear ,wheel. Th5 operatorwill immediately actuate the lev sition andthus shift and t e gear 11 out of mesh teeth 5 and the pinion 10, re-

the same time, the clutch the pinion 16 with the gear spectively. At

member 27 is shifted'into engagement with the clutch teeth 25 of thegearwheel 24 and the generator is then oierated at engine speed. Whileit is desiralile that the change of speed ratio be made as soon aspossible after the starting of the engine, a slight delay will notaffect the'suwessful operation of my inventionl The roller clutch 12prerents the actuation of the generator through the reduction gearmechanism so that it cannot be actuated at an excessive speed. Thenormal speed of the generator, when acting as a motor, is substantiallythe same as that for generation so that little or no shock would becaused by the en agement of the clutch members after some delay, becausethe inertia of the armature would tend to maintain its normal operatingspeed. I-elaim as my invention: 1.- The combination with an engineshaft, of a dynamoelectric machine having an armature shaft and'comprising ignition mechanism, a gear wheel operativelyconnecting saidengine shaft to said ignition mechanism always at a fixed speed ratio,aclutch mem m on said gear wheel, acoacting clutch ember slidablymounted on said armature haft, and manuallv'operable means forcontrolling said slidable clutch member. V

2. The combiliation with an engine shaft and a dynamo-electric machine,ofmeans for operativcly connecting said machine to said engine shaft atdifferent speed ratios, said means eomprisingtwo trains ofgearmechanism, one of which comprises a slidable shaft havinglgear wheelsmounted at its ends, a clutch member for connection to the other t'rain(It gear mechanism, and! means for simultulkeously controlling said idclutch member. 4 3. The combination with an engine shaft, of adynamo-eleetrid machine having an armature shaft and comprising ignitionmechanism, agear wheel operativelv con nected to said engine shaft andto said ignition mechanism, a clutch member on sai gear whee a enactingclutch member slid ably mounted on said armature shaft, reductio'n gearmechanismoomprising a slidable shaft for operatively connecting saidarmature shaft to said engine shaft, and

r 20 to shift the rod 13 a means for simultaneously controlling: saidslidahle clutch member and said slidahle shaft.

4. The combination with an engine shaft, of a dynamo-electric machinehaving an armature shaft and comprising ignition mechanism, of means foroperativcly connecting said armature shaft to said engine shaft at ahigh speed ratio, means, comprising a gear wheel having a fixed speedratio with the engine Shaft and operatively connected to said ignitionmechanism, for operat-ively connecting said armature shaft t0 saidengine shaft at a low speed ratio, and means for simultaneouslycontrolling said 15 connecting means, I

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 14th dayof August, 1913. I

' OTTO S. SCHAIRER. Witnesses:

A. M. LUNDI,

B. B. HINES.

